Decision reserved over sex offender's incarceration

A High Court judge has reserved her decision on whether the Parole Board acted correctly in holding a controversial sex offender in jail past his release date.

Stewart Murray Wilson, dubbed the "Beast of Blenheim" for his prolific sexual offending, was eligible for release in December 2008 but the board used a rarely-used section of the Parole Act to continue detaining him.

His lawyer told the Wellington High Court on Thursday that tests assessing Wilson's likelihood of reoffending indicated there was no reasonable cause to continue holding him in jail.

He said the board deliberated for less than 10 minutes before making its decision in November last year and the outcome was pre-determined.

However, the Parole Board's lawyer said even if that had happened, a hearing in April this year remedied that.